Homozygous A1298C and Heavy Metals: What to do?

Question:
I was diagnosed with 2 copies of the A1298C mutation last month.

I am 27 years old and have 1, healthy two year old, with no pregnancy complications. We are going to try and get pregnant soon but I am worried about heavy metal poisoning.

We have lived in a 100+ year old military house for almost a year now. They have sealed in the lead paint and we vacuum up all the paint chips. Should I be tested for heavy metals before we get pregnant?

My sister is AC and had her heavy metals checked and they were all normal (she is 6 years younger than me). We will also have my daughter tested for heavy metals when we move in 6 months. My homocysteine levels are normal and my B Vitamins at the cellular level are also normal. I have been taking normal prenatal vitamins for almost 3 months now.

Should I be tested and is there anything else I need to do in preparation to get pregnant? Thank you so much! My military doctor is great about finding out information but I wanted to ask an expert on the topic. Thank you so much

Answer:
I am very pleased that you are thinking this way. I truly am impressed by your thoughtful concern of your future child.

Please hold off on getting pregnant again until you evaluate the situation more from other angles.

How did you go about finding out that you are homozygous A1298C? To confirm – this means you have two copies of the MTHFR mutation – one from each of your parents. Do you have symptoms of fibromyalgia? Chronic fatigue? Depression?

Military housing can be loaded with pesticides and solvents. It is not just heavy metals that you need to concern yourself with – but other chemicals as well.

How did your sister get her heavy metals tested? If the doctors just checked her heavy metals via blood, this is completely inadequate. One has to have a provoked heavy metal challenge in order to identify potential body burden of heavy metals.

Keep in mind that heavy metal testing does not test for:

– solvents
– PCB’s
– BPA
– pesticides
– herbicides
– PFOA

All of these can contribute to the inability to conceive, early termination of a pregnancy or a lifelong neurological or developmental defect in a child.

Homozygous A1298C makes it nearly impossible to eliminate chemicals and toxins without specific nutritional support combined with lifestyle and dietary changes.

If you want to test for heavy metals, you can do that through a provoked urinary challenge.

I do not recommend doing a provoked urinary heavy metal test though until you open up your detoxification channels as they are blocked. If you take DMSA or EDTA or DMPS to pull out metals and you are homozygous A1298C, you can get very very ill quickly as the metals will mobilized from your cells and fat back into your circulation. Once the 1/2 life of the chelating agent wears off, you will be sick – very sick- unless you are under the advice of a skilled environmental physician.

You are only 27 years old. I highly recommend you hold off on getting pregnant for a year while you are working on detoxing and optimizing your biochemistry so you can eliminate toxins – otherwise they will pass to baby and potentially cause lifelong damage.

Once you start detoxing, you need to wait at least 6 months after detoxing to allow the ‘dust to settle’ prior to getting pregnant.

I also highly recommend testing your partner for MTHFR mutations. If you are homozygous MTHFR A1298C and he carries one or more MTHFR mutations, the baby is at additional risk.

I am not saying you cannot get pregnant – I am saying let’s get your body in shape before doing so!

This way you not only are more likely to succeed in getting pregnant, but more importantly, you are more likely to have a healthy and vibrant baby.

I recommend looking for a physician who will work with you – that is knowledgeable about environmental medicine and MTHFR. They will be few but they exist.

I am available though consultations if you’d like to schedule one. My first opening is the first week of December.

I know you really want to get pregnant, but please, do understand that your concerns are very valid. I want you to have another healthy child. Without evaluating your biochemistry and toxic burden, it is a high risk situation to your future child.

One Response to “Homozygous A1298C and Heavy Metals: What to do?”

What about pools with chlorine? I am homozygous for the a mutation and family has a Walmart pool they set up and it takes 3-6 chlorine tablets. I haven’t gotten in it because I’m unsure if it’s safe? I am also pregnant.

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